The Lennox and Wolfe Revised Self-Monitoring Scale: latent structure and gender invariance

Abstract

Abstract The present investigation examined the factor structure and gender invariance of the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS), a 13-item scale to assess personal changes in self-presentation to fit the social setting. Scale responses from 836 Canadian university students were analyzed by confirmatory factor methods to determine whether the data fit according to an hypothesized two-factor model (Ability to Modify Self-Presentation and Sensitivity to the Expressive Behavior of Others). Though results failed to support this model, there was support for a three-factor correlated solution: (1) the Lennox and Wolfe Sensitivity subscale; (2) a modified Ability subscale; and (3) a new subscale (“Difficulty Modifying Self Presentation”), composed of the two negatively worded items from the Lennox and Wolfe Ability subscale. Whereas the omnibus assumption of factorial invariance was applicable (invariant) to male and female respondents with respect to factor loadings, factor correlations, and error variances, a few individual parameters were not. Implications for scale utility, practitioner interpretation, future research directions are discussed.